The Unseen

This is the beginning of a long-term personal project with Belknap County Nursing Home. Over the course of the next year, I’ll visit the residents many times to create multiple portraits for many of them. How it started: On the back of each of my business cards is a black and white portrait. There are six ...

Yesterday, my assistant Kree and I spent the afternoon meeting and photographing more residents of the Belknap County Nursing Home for Part II of my project The Unseen – County Home Portraits. To read why I started this project and see photos from Part I, click here. Gloria “You know me, I want to be perfect for ...

Ed and the Battle at Wounded Knee I subscribe electronically to The Writer’s Almanac. My morning email today included a poem by Philip Dacey, and a very informative article about today being the anniversary of the massacre at Wounded Knee. If you know as little as I did until this morning, this event happened on December 29, ...

Hymn to the Nameless One Now as the year swings down, and the darkness encloses even the smallest bird, the largest animal, and we too enter the hour when everything is falling once more into the twilight of not knowing, what we ask is that you be with us, not as a pillar of fire nor a blaze across the heavens, but like water at rest in a pitcher which catches ...

Virginia hadn’t played the piano since she was a child. By the time she became a resident at the Belknap County Nursing Home, she had forgotten much about her own life. Then one day she sat down at this piano and began to play. She plays it almost daily now. True friends are ...

First, ongoing thanks: When you see a portrait, you might never know what is involved in the making of it.  I’m not talking about the technical details.  Rather,  I want to point out that it isn’t only me making these portraits. There is a whole team of people helping me. Thank you to Kree Woolley and Mandy ...

“You must be a Patriots fan.” Yvonne: “Nah! I don’t have time for that anymore!” “What are you doing today?” “Getting my hair done!” Richard was out for his morning exercise. Lionel served in the Marines. D.W. is the youngest resident of the nursing home. He’s 21. Marie is 101 years old. To read how this project got started, click here: https://maundymitchell.com/the-unseen-county-home-portraits/ To ...

Robert and Justine. Below is Millie. You might have seen another photo of her last month (https://maundymitchell.com/the-unseen-county-home-portraits-part-v/). I photographed her in mid-February as she was preparing for a date with her new boyfriend. During this visit, I got to learn more about her as we sat by the window in her room. “One time I went through the ...

Emile:  “I met Irene at a dance.  I saw her across the room.  We married six months later.” “Dancing was our life. We used to go to Canada, to the Frontenac, where Guy Lombardo would be playing.” “Irene was in the nursing home before me. I visited her from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. every day. I ...

When I began this personal, year-long portrait project last November, I knew I wouldn’t be working with people who look like J. Crew models. They wouldn’t be wearing formal attire and flower crowns, while standing cliffside in Iceland in gorgeous light, a rainbow in the background. This is about the unseen people–the ones who are 101 years ...

Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other’s eyes for an instant? -Henry David Thoreau I spent Monday morning at the Belknap County Nursing home. I was there to continue work on this year-long personal project, which I began last November. This is Jim, who worked as a machinist and a fire fighter. He ...

Last month, I spent another afternoon at the Belknap County Nursing home. I was there to continue work on this year-long personal project, which I began last November. (See bottom of page for links to Parts I-XI). Leo “I like it here.” “But I haven’t seen my wife in a year. She lives in Concord. We ...

This year-long personal project is nearing its conclusion. Last week, I visited the nursing home for the next-to-last time. Driving home, I tend to reflect on the visits. The way I work there has evolved. I no longer bring in big lighting setups and backdrops. I spend longer with each resident ...

This post marks the end of a chapter. This project began in the fall of 2014, when I noticed that photos of the elderly are typically passed over in favor of attractive young people and children. You can read more on that here, with part one of a fourteen-part series. I have been regularly visiting the ...